Bryan Cranston Lets Slip That Zordon Was Once the Red Ranger

The reboot Power Rangers movie, coming March 24, is rewriting the origins of the ‘90s teen superheroes, the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. But the film might also rewrite the story of the wise alien mentor, Zordon, who is voiced and played in motion capture by Bryan Cranston. This week, the Emmy winner might have slipped that his Zordon might have been the original Red Ranger, which is a popular fan theory alongside Rita Repulsa (Elizabeth Banks) as the Green Ranger.

The speculation comes from a recent Instagram post from actor Andrew Gray, who played “Troy” the Red Ranger in 2013’s Power Rangers Megaforce. Cranston gave a copy of his new memoir A Life in Parts to Gray, with a hand-written message reading: “To Andrew, Happy birthday! To a Power Ranger, from a Power Ranger. Be well, Bryan Cranston.” The post has been deleted, but the internet likes to keep receipts on this sort of stuff.

The ongoing theory among fans is that Zordon and Rita Repulsa were former Power Rangers and that — predictably — bad things happened, leading Rita Repulsa to become the evil space witch she is now. Zordon, meanwhile, lost his physical form and becomes a giant talking head like Jor-El from Superman. In the original television canon, neither Rita nor Zordon were Rangers. Instead, they had always been sorcerers representing good and evil, and 10,000 years after their final battle where Zordon locked Rita away, she breaks free to resume her mission of taking over the Earth once again.

Although Cranston’s words to Gray are a bit vague, it’s still the strongest hint yet to one of the biggest mysteries in the new Power Rangers movie. Check out the image of Cranston’s signature below.